Ludhiana health dept asks hospitals to confirm dengue only after Elisa test

Health institutions usually depend on platelet counts to declare dengue. Normally, the platelet count is between 1.5 lacs to 4 lacs, however, in dengue, it can fall below 1.5. Thus, low platelets are often taken as a confirmation for dengue, according to district epidemiologist Dr Sheetal.

“We have asked all private hospitals, clinics and laboratories to not declare anyone dengue positive before conducting the Elisa test,” she said.

“While dengue causes the platelets to fall under 1.5 lacs, platelets below 1.5 lacs aren’t a confirmation of dengue in itself. So a simple CBC test is not enough to confirm dengue,” she added.

This year, so far, the district has recorded 37 dengue cases.

The private hospitals, clinics, and laboratories have also been asked not to charge more than ₹600 for the ELISA tests. Both the private and government hospitals have been asked to prepare separate dengue wards. In the government hospitals, including the civil hospital, sub divisional hospitals, 13 such wards, with 97 beds have been prepared so far. Private hospitals have also been asked about their arrangement for such wards.

The local administration is also planning to release gambusia fish in the water bodies in the rural areas to check the growth of dengue and malaria-causing mosquitoes.

Deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney asked the block development and panchayat officers (BDPOs) to identify such open water bodies in their respective areas and coordinate with the health department to release the fish in them.

Ludhiana civil surgeon Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh said, “We have procured the gambusia fish for dengue and malaria prevention. So far we have released this fish in 80-85 water bodies in the district.”

Gambusia survives by eating mosquitoes and its larvae. The fish is only a few inches in size and has a large mouth that helps it swallow larvae back-to-back. It breeds at a faster rate and can eat larvae 40 times its weight.